It’s time to bite back against the mosquitoes!
At some point, most of us have fallen victim to pesky mosquito bites, usually through no fault of our own.
But while mosquitos may be just a nuisance insect, they could be harmful if an infected one bites you…
Annoying but deadly
Mosquitoes are known to be major carriers of deadly diseases and have wreaked havoc in the medical world. They can spread diseases ranging from malaria, West Nile, Zika, and more…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 409,000 people died from malaria in 2019 alone, with children under 5 being the most vulnerable.
And even though many people try to lure away mosquitoes with chemical sprays, nets, or avoiding still water, it’s not enough to combat their impact on people’s health.
No more swatting in my life!
Luckily, Nymphea Labs, a startup in Paris, has created the Solar Scare Mosquito 2.0. It’s a device that targets and kills mosquitoes at the source – the larvae.
Since mosquitoes need still water to breed and let their larvae grow, disrupting that process is the first step in combating their reproduction.
The Solar Scare Mosquito works by disrupting the calm water, killing the larvae before they can mature.
The Solar Scare is designed to avoid disrupting the water from dusk to dawn in order to allow the mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Then, after the eggs are laid, the device creates a ripple effect that kills the new eggs.
The device is 3D-printed and powered by a tiny, 3W solar panel. Users control the device with an Arduino board (a simple input/output device).
Improving existing tech to improve lives
Nymphae Labs is improving on their previous Solar Scare by including sensors that detect water levels and sound. Sound sensors are used to capture the frequency of the mosquitos’ “wingbeats” to differentiate between species and sex.
The company also claims that the device uses, “an Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud-based platform to integrate entomological data with existing environmental and epidemiological data to predict outbreaks.”
This feature could help in countries that have weak mosquito surveillance systems, which make it difficult to track infection trends.
Hopefully, this function to combat mosquitos will help curb the outbreak of diseases like malaria – which the WHO hopes to eliminate in at least 35 countries by 2030. They also hope to control the spread of other deadly diseases. This could make the Solar Scare an essential tool to combat a variety of mosquito-borne diseases.
So, what do you think? Do you think eliminating large-scare diseases is possible through this type of technology? Let us know in the comments below!